Victims question Centre on delaying Plachimada Bill

Date:Mar 22, 2013

Environment ministry says compensation claims from Coca-Cola diluted by time limit

It has been more than two years since the Kerala Assembly passed a Bill to set up a tribunal to secure compensation for people of Plachimada village who suffered the ill-effects of ground water depletion and pollution at the hands of beverage giant Coca-Cola. But the tribunal is yet to be set up because of delay by the Centre. A memorandum regarding the constitution of the Plachimada Coca-Cola Victims’ Relief and Compensation Claim Special Tribunal was submitted to the Union home ministry on March 15.

Home minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, who said he was unaware of the case, assured them that he would look into the matter.

People’s organisation Plachimada Anti Coca-Cola Struggle Committee, who submitted the memorandum, questioned the two-year-long delay in approving the Bill. The committee and other social organisations have been agitating since 2002 for people of Plachimada in Kerala who allege that the soft drink plant of Hindustan Coca Cola Beverage Company in their area depleted more than 64 wells and polluted their groundwater. In 2004, the cola giant’s Plachimada unit was closed down. In 2010, an expert committee assessed and slapped Rs 218 crore damages on the cola company.

The Plachimada tribunal Bill was unanimously passed by the Kerala Assembly on February 24, 2011.  Once it becomes an Act, it would legitimise the constitution of a special tribunal for securing the compensation for the people of Plachimada. The Bill was sent by the state governor for presidential assent via the home ministry end of March 2011. In March 2012, the state government sent a reminder to the MHA, enquiring into the inordinate delay in forwarding the Bill to the President.

Other ministries approve Bill

According to the memorandum, the home ministry had forwarded this bill to various ministries for comments on April 13, 2011. The four related ministries of agriculture, water resources, rural development and law have categorically approved this Bill and some recommended even stronger measures than mentioned in the contents of the Bill. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, however, has not given positive comments  on the bill.

As per the memorandum, the present the Bill in its present form has set a time limit of 10 years from the time damages were incurred for demanding compensation from the company. The environment ministry stated that this provision is against the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act which set a time restriction of five years. Hence, in accordance with the NGT Act, the claims of the residents of Plachimada have already been diluted.

“The environment ministry has been repeating the argument of the cola company,” says K V Biju, convener of Plachimada Anti Coca-Cola Struggle Committee. “The Plachimada Bill is in fulfilment of the State's obligation in terms of Article 21 as interpreted by the Supreme Court and based on the polluter-pays principle that has become an integral part of our jurisprudence,” he adds.
 

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Draft Bill seeks right to water, 25 litres daily for each

 Tue Jun 25 2013

The Centre on Monday unveiled the draft of its contentious National Water Framework Bill which seeks to provide "right to water", while stating that water allocation and pricing should be based on "economic principles".

"Every individual has a right to a minimum quantity of potable water for essential health and hygiene and within easy reach of the household," states the draft. "The minimum quantity of potable water shall not be less than 25 litres per capita per day," it says, adding that the quantity must be fixed by the "appropriate government".

"The state's responsibility for ensuring people's right to water shall remain despite corporatisation or privatisation of water services, and the privatisation of the service, where considered necessary and appropriate, shall be subject to this provision," says the draft bill, which also mandates that governments should specify the "quality standards" of water supply for various uses like drinking, livestock, irrigation and industries among others.

While noting that the government remains the trustee of water resources, the draft bill gives it the flexibility of roping in a "private agency" for "some of the functions of the state". In this context, it stipulates that "allocation and pricing" should be based "on economic principles to ensure its development costs", and "so that water is not wasted in unnecessary uses and... utilised more gainfully and water infrastructure projects are made financially viable."

For this purpose, "an independent statutory water regulatory authority shall be established by every state for ensuring equitable access to water for all, and its fair pricing for drinking and other uses such as sanitation, agricultural and industrial," it says, adding that the decision of this authority will be subject to judicial review.

The regulatory authority will be entrusted with fixing the water price and its periodical review, and formulating a "principle of differential pricing for water for drinking and sanitation".

The draft bill, prepared on the basis of a report by a committee headed by Y K Alagh, also mandates protection of "ecological integrity necessary to sustain ecosystems dependent on water", that may include restrictions on water usage to maintain minimum natural flow in rivers to meet the ecological needs and regulated groundwater use.

It seeks to make river basins the mandatory basic hydrological unit for planning, development and management of water resources, while stipulating that governments should come up with "specific legislations" for developing, managing and regulating basins of intra-state rivers. Besides, it says, there should be a river basin masterplan.

"All water resources projects shall conform to the river basin masterplan under section 7(7)... and shall take into account all social and environmental aspects, in addition to techno-economic considerations of the project, in consultation with project affected and beneficiary families," it says. Local bodies, including panchayats, municipalities, corporations, and even water users associations will have a say in planning and management of the projects.

The National Water Framework Bill has already drawn criticism from several states, including Congress-ruled ones like Kerala and Haryana, which have claimed that it amounts to infringing upon their rights as water is a state subject.

The draft bill gives time till July 31 for comments.

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